Abstract

Consecutive unselected bone marrow sections obtained by a modified needle biopsy procedure were examined for iron stores using the Prussian blue reaction. The sections obtained by this method are larger and have more intact marrow architecture than those obtained by marrow fragment or aspiration techniques.

Absent marrow iron stores were present in 442 of the 1,332 biopsy specimens for an incidence of 33 per cent. The clinical records of 300 of these patients indicated that iron deficiency was not clinically recognized in 55 per cent. Fifty per cent of 38 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 14 patients with systemic lupus